A journey to Bandung allows you to traverse the past, present and even future of Indonesia all in one city. The capital of West Java and Indonesia’s fourth largest city with 2.6 million people, you can see everything from the colonial to the kitsch. And it’s only 180 kilometers from Jakarta. With the new highway cutting travel time from five hours to two, it’s an easy day trip.
First, the past. Bandung was established in the late 19th century by the Dutch as a garrison town. In 1920 they opened the Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia’s top scientific university. Its luscious, sprawling campus has Indo-European architecture with pointy Minangkabau-style roofs on many of the buildings. On the Saturday that I was there, students were chilling on lawns, singing, playing guitars, dancing with drums —- even studying, using typewriters. Yes, typewriters. The founder of Indonesia, Soekarno, lived here from 1920-25.
At the outskirts of the city, at the Museum Geologi, a massive colonial building that used to house the Dutch Geological Service, are a number of stuffed animals, nature exhibits and fossils, the most famous of which is the skull of Pithecanthropus erectus, the prehistoric Java Man.
In the center of town at Jalan Braga, rundown Dutch colonial buildings form a shopping street with some great antique stores. The dust-coated stores give you a sense of Bandung’s multi-ethnic heritage with Javanese, Chinese, Dutch relics all competing for space and buyers.
But it’s the art-deco buildings nearby that define Bandung’s notable architectural footprint. From the Savoy Homman Hotel to the Grand Hotel Preanger to the Gedung Merdeka complex, Bandung is an art-deco museum. Frank Lloyd Wright would have appreciated the grey, almost Mayan angular touches that make Jalan Asia-Afrika unique among major boulevards in Asia. Think a tropical version of lower Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
At the Gedung Merdeka Bandung reached the height of its fame. In 1955, Soekarno, Chou En-Lai, Nasser, Ho Chi Minh and other third world leaders met at the AfroAsian Conference, otherwise known as the Bandung Conference. The building, dating from 1879, was known as the “Concordia Sociteit”, the meeting hall of Dutch colonial associations. In April 1955, it was literally the capital of the third world. The Bandung Conference’s 10 principles defined the Non-Aligned Movement throughout the coming Cold War period until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Some of those principles, such as non-aggression, respect for sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs, and peaceful co-existence are as timely today as they were then. The conference lit the fire of a number of anti-colonial movements that followed in the coming decade. The massive hall where the delegates met is filled with flags of the 29 participating nations. In the museum you can learn about what happened here and see wax figures of some of the most famous leaders who attended, including Soekarno, speaking from a podium.
Now, the present. You should have lunch at a Sundanese restaurant at the hillside suburb of Dago, where elegant mansions populate lush tree-covered roads. Nearby is Jeans Street, Jalan Cihampelas, where Bandung today defines itself. On the Saturday I was there, it was packed with cars, tour buses and shoppers. In front of its denim shops were massive statues of superheroes: from Superman to Spiderman to Wolverine from X-men. Buskers serenaded the crowd. Kitsch is cool here.
So what of Bandung in the future. With that new highway, it’s a favourite weekend destination for people from Jakarta. Whether it’s buying jeans, eating Sundanese food or breathing cool mountain air — at more than 700 meters the air is better here than Jakarta — it’s a great getaway. And with the Bandung Institute of Technology having produced great Indonesian leaders in the past, you can bet those of the future will come from here as well.
Published in South China Morning Post, June 17, 2009
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